Types of disasters

TYPES OF DISASTERS

A disaster is a natural or man-made hazard resulting in an event of substantial extent causing significant physical damage or destruction, loss of life, or drastic change to the environment. A disaster can be defined as any tragic event stemming from events such as earthquakes, floods, catastrophic accidents, fires, or explosions. It is a phenomenon that can cause damage to life and property and destroy the economic, social and cultural life of people.

Hazards are divided into natural or human-made.

A natural disaster is a consequence when a natural hazard affects humans and/or the built environment. Various phenomena like earthquakes, landslides, volcanic eruptions, floods and cyclones are all natural hazards that kill thousands of people and destroy crores of rupees of living environment and property each year. Developing countries suffer more or less chronically by natural disasters. Asia tops the list of casualties due to natural disasters.

Man-made disasters are the consequence of technological or human hazards. Examples are stampedes, fires, transport accidents, oil and chemical spills, nuclear radiations and wars.